Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

Clutch linkage butchured

833 views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  BigMike20 
#1 ·
The previous owner has welded, bent and completley messed up the clutch linkage on my cj5 with a chevy 350, What do you guys suggest as far as replacing the entire linkage, or what do you all think about switching over to a hydrullic clutch? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I would buy a new clutch linkage assembly from 4wd Hardware or Quadratec before I messed around with putting a hydraulic clutch in it. Replacement parts for a mechanical clutch aren't that expensive, and I hate Hydraulic clutches. No "feel" to them. I drove my dads 01 silverado with a hydraulic clutch yesterday and it was terrible compared to my Jeep clutch. My wifes old neon was the same way-yucky.
 
#3 ·
Wow, did the same person who worked on your Jeep also work on mine? Sounds like you have exactly the same problem as I did. The PO of my CJ7 completely mocked up a crappy clutch linkage that was welded together and was as crooked as hell when they put in the Chevy 350. I'm currently in the process of putting the new mechanical linkage kit in. I've had to mod the kit myself though, because the pivot point on the bellhousing is in a different location than it would have been on a stock 258 I-6 bellhousing. The most important aspect is keeping the bellcrank level and square relative to the pivot points. This will ensure a smooth and worry free linkage.
 
#4 ·
A whole clutch linkage kit usually runs less than $60 from 4WD. It includes all the major parts and is much cheaper than trying to put in a hydraulic clutch. Replacing all the linkage parts shouldn't take more than 2 hours.
 
#5 ·
Also you need to be sure your 350 bellhousing will support a hydrolic clutch if you go that route. If the bellhousing is set up for manual clutch I would replace with all new manual clutch. I have a 350 with manual clutch and it is smooth as silk.
thanks
 
#6 ·
TampaCJ5, here's the pics along with an explanation that you requested...

Here's a shot of the whole clutch linkage as it looks on mine now.



The most important aspect, as you may well be aware of, is to keep the bellcrank square and level so that it pivots smoothly on the points. This is the main reason why I replaced mine. The botched job before, (I wish I had a "before" pic to show you) had a bellcrank that was no where near square. It was pointed down and away and its plastic bushings were totally destroyed. This was caused by how poor of a job the PO did in creating the frame-mounted pivot point, shown below.



Additionally, the bellcrank bracketry (little arms coming off the bellcrank that attach to the pushrod and actuator arm) were cut off and reattached at different lengths and at different angles in order for the parts to line up right. The pushrod itself was also thrown together and welded from several pieces. Here's a pic of those old parts along with the new ones.




Top this off with a scrap piece of what appears to be a stock Chevy truck bellhousing bracket and I had myself one crappy clutch.



The first task I had was making sure the bellcrank was level and square on its pivot points. I had to use this stock Chevy pivot point because the Jeep kit's brackets had no way of attaching to the a stock Chevy bellhousing. Since this piece had to stay, I had to make everything adjust to it. I then carefully measured and mounted the larger pivot point on that jacked frame mount.



Unfortunately, the kit has a long and a short pivot point. Because the bellcrank only goes on one way, I ended up having to drill out the inside of the bellhousing with a drill press in order for it to accept the long stock Chevy pivot point. If you have or get your hands on a new bellcrank, you'll notice that one end is drilled out longer than the other to accept the appropriate long and short pivot points. Once that was done, I now had a bellcrank that could pivot smoothly.

The next task was getting the actuator assembly working. Because the PO had modded the old bellcrank, the old actuator arm was at the proper length to meet up with the clutch fork. Now with my new bellcrank and setup there was only 3-4 inches between the bellcrank arm and the clutch fork, not nearly enough room for the actuator and adjustment assembly. So, I salvaged the other small pivot bracket which I had no use for anyway, and had it welded to the bellcrank arm, thereby achieving the proper length needed to fit my new actuator arm.



I also added the firewall boot to protect the pushrod which didn't exist before.



The only thing I have left to do is find the proper place to attach the return spring and fine tune everything. But I have trial tested the linkage mocked up this way and it works like butter. There is no jerking, flopping, clunking, shaking, or other symptoms that existed in the old linkage. I hope this provides some info and help for you to get your clutch linkage worked out. To me it seems it would depend on YOUR bellhousing and frame mounted pivot points, as to whether or not a new clutch kit will simply bolt right in. Hopefully you'll have it easier than I did. Since I don't know how to weld or own a drill press, this linkage was 2 weeks in the making. If you just can't seem to get this linkage to work, you might look into a chain-type linkage offered by Advance Adapters. Good luck and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask. Mike
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top